Posts

Most of us, marketers, are trying to engage the Millennials or Gen Y. Also, most marketers are still leery of Gen Y marketing techniques. Therefore, we need to keep understanding who they are, what they do, what they like and what they dislike.

The Fortune 500’s use of blogs, online video, and podcasts continues to increase, but Twitter was the social media channel of choice in 2009, according to a study by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) and Financial Insite.

The study, “The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage by America’s Largest Companies,” was conducted by Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Research Chair of the Society for New Communications Research and Chancellor Professor of Marketing at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Eric Mattson, CEO of Financial Insite Inc., a Seattle-based research firm.

Large number of Fortune 500 companies got into Twitter, report says

The new report is the outcome of a statistically sound study of the Fortune 500. The study examined the 2009 Fortune 500 in an attempt to quantify their adoption of social media tools and technologies. This is the second year that Barnes and Mattson have tracked social media adoption among the Fortune 500, and theirs is the only statistically sound longitudinal study of its kind.

The 2009 study’s key findings include:

22% (108) of the primary corporations listed in the 2009 Fortune 500 have a public-facing corporate blog. This represents a six percent increase over the 2008 study.

86% of these blogs (93) link directly to a corporate twitter account, a 300% increase over the 2008 study. (Note: More Fortune 500 corporations have Twitter accounts, but do not link directly from their blogs.)

35% (173) of the Fortune 500 have active Twitter accounts (a post within the past thirty days); and nearly 50% of the top 100 companies (47) have a Twitter account.

80% — four of the top five corporations – Wal-Mart, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and General Electric – consistently post on their Twitter accounts. The number one ranked company, Exxon Mobil, does not have a Twitter account.

The insurance industry has the most Twitter accounts (13).

19% of the 2009 Fortune 500 is podcasting, a three percent increase over the 2008 study

31% are incorporating online video into their blog sites, a 10% increase over 2008

“The continued steady adoption of blogs and the explosive growth of Twitter among Fortune 500 companies demonstrate the growing importance of social media in the business world,” stated Barnes. “These large and leading companies drive the American economy, and to a large extent, the world economy. Surely a willingness to interact more transparently via these new technologies with their stakeholders is a positive step. Where this leads will be fascinating to watch!”

“As social media become more integrated with a variety of business functions both internally and externally at companies, we continue to see a steadily growing adoption of blogs, Twitter, online video, podcasts and other new communications channels,” added Mattson.

About this study

A full copy of the 17-page research report, “The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging and Twitter Usage by America’s Largest Companies,” can be downloaded at the link below.

Additionally, Barnes and Mattson will publish a paper based on the findings in an upcoming issue of the Society for New Communications Research’s Journal of New Communications Research and will present the findings via a web-based briefing and at the Society for New Communications Research’s annual research symposium.

About the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

To facilitate the economic development of the region by providing an affordable, high-quality economic alternative to meeting business needs for research, training, and consulting in any and all aspects of Marketing. The Center for Marketing Research is associated with and maintains a close relationship with the Chambers of Commerce within southeastern Massachusetts. This unique relationship provides the Center with an effective business networking capability. For more information, visit http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/.

About the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR)

The Society for New Communications Research is a global nonprofit 501(c)(3) research and education foundation and think tank focused on the advanced study of the latest developments in new media and communications, and their effect on traditional media and business models, communications, culture and society. For more information, visit http://sncr.org.

Any company that comes in contact with online Hispanic consumers would be negligent not to include them on its social media marketing strategy. The focal point should be the identification of the technologies and social media channels that are a strategic fit.

By Havi Goffan

Any company that comes in contact with online Hispanic consumers would be negligent not to include them in its social media marketing strategy.

U.S.-based Hispanic consumers are significantly more likely to participate in online social media than their non-Hispanic counterparts, making a social media strategy a must for any marketer wanting to reach this group online, according to a new report from Forrester Research Inc.

The research findings are as follows:

Online Hispanics are more involved and likely to listen to word-of-mouth

69% of 3,000 online Hispanics are Spectators, meaning that they watch, read or listen to what others have created online.

Only 42% of non-Hispanics online are Spectators

Online Hispanics are more active

40% of online Hispanics have the highest level of online activity and are characterized as Creators, meaning that they take part in such online activities as blogging, publishing web pages and uploading audio and video.

Only 12% of non-Hispanics online consumers participate in these activities.

Online Hispanics have a higher level of “Influentials”

77% of online Hispanic adults take part in some sort of online social activity: Forrester characterized this group as influential, reporting that on average 60% tell friends and family about products that interest them.

more than 70% of all Hispanics surveyed said they stay with brands they like, suggesting that marketers who successfully build relationships with them now will have advocates for the long term.

Why are Hispanics more predisposed toward online social networking?

First, Hispanics are customarily early adopters of entertainment technologies, and this corresponds online to the use of video, audio and other related social media technologies such as blogging.

Second, Hispanic culture emphasizes the group over the individual, therefore Hispanic consumers tend to look to others for advice or agreement on product choices.

Third, according to research, “even though many U.S.-born Hispanic consumers prefer to use the Spanish language, many media publishers and marketers in the U.S. don’t offer this option. Social networking provides Hispanics with opportunities to fill that online gap by contributing their own Spanish-language content”, Forrester says.

Hispanics social media marketing strategy – a must

Any company that comes in contact with online Hispanic consumers would be negligent not to include them on its social media marketing strategy. The focal point should be the identification of the technologies and social media channels that are a strategic fit.

by Claudia “Havi” Goffan

How do we measure the effectiveness of your brand’s social media marketing campaigns?

Social media has evolved into an every day way of interaction and communication for a large part of the population. And this evolution started in the last century when social media commenced amidst the original chats in chatrooms and blogs. The first blog was created in the late 1980’s: http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/ and it is still alive and well today. Online dating sites, also a part of social media, started with online chats and became famous in 1988 with the movie “You’ve Got Mail”. In 2008, one out of nine couples that got married that year, actually met online. It is expected that the U.S. online dating market will reach $932 million in 2011.

Companies are starting 2010 with sparkling new social media campaigns and everybody knows it’s about the engagement, right? So, how do we measure the effectiveness of your brand’s social media marketing campaigns?

The ultimate approach to social media marketing campaign measurement will look at the things that really matter: sales, profits, customer satisfaction and loyalty. But that may take some time and you need to know how to gage the effectiveness of your social media marketing campaign to see if you are headed in the right direction in order to meet those objectives. Therefore, I wanted to share with you 25 social interaction metrics of key performance indicators to use with your social media marketing campaign. This is not an exhaustive list neither it is listed by order of importance and each social media marketer needs to identify the ones that are most suited for them.

I hope you find them useful and that you feel free to share additional ones with us and with our readers.

Social media sites are becoming a major strategy for brands and business.

What tools should we use to get a return on our social media efforts?

Use them all. But use the tools for different purposes and audiences.

When you are on Twitter you are everybody’s friend. Simple as that. Facebook is your home. Who do you entertain in your home? Facebook is the place where you can truly connect with your audience. LinkedIn is your office. There are thousands of social media sites: YouTube, Digg, Reddit, Delicious, hubspot, winelifetoday, univision.

Log in to our site and watch the rest of the introduction to Social Media presentation to learn Twitter basics and tips to increase your follower base. Do not overextend yourself on social media and increase your connections!

"A distinguishing characteristic of multi-ethnic Millennials is their heavily “second generation” orientation. Since they are more likely children of immigrants than immigrants themselves, the proportion of foreign born Millennials is relatively small when compared to Generation Xers and Baby Boomers."
– Havi Goffan
Characteristics of Hispanic Millennials

We Recommend

If you are interested in discovering how to market to Latinos on Pinterest, read on. I am sharing some of my tips on successfully doing so. One thing is to Pin in Spanish. Another one is to achieve your marketing goals for the Hispanic market. To successfully market to Latinos on Pinterest, this is what you need to understand. […]

Hispanic Marketing Blog is an initiative of Target Latino, a Hispanic Inbound Marketing consulting firm. Research, Social Media, Culture, SEO, Conversion & Pinterest Strategies.
The Hispanic Marketing blog's goal is to share information about the Latino Market or that may affect the Hispanic community and its marketers.